Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Magnolia Survives Clash Of Styles
DEFENDING CHAMPS NEED DOUBLE OVERTIME TO WIN 63-56
FARMINGTON — Brookland pushed defending Class 4A champion Magnolia to the brink of defeat, but the Panthers made clutch plays to win an epic double overtime, 63-56, state semifinal Saturday, March 7.
All-Time Classic
The contest destined to go down in the annals of Arkansas high school basketball history as a classic seemed decided more than once before Magnolia rode the scoring of 6-3 sophomore guard Derrian Ford, who finished with a game-high 36 points.
The fact that they were lucky to arrive in overtime showed in Ford’s embrace of Brookland coach Bobby Gross after the game. Gross and the Bearcats earned Ford’s respect. Magnolia coach Ben Lindsey also didn’t shy away from acknowledging a tough opponent.
“They’re a tremendous team. They’re well-coached. They got so many shooters out there and it was such a clash of styles out there,” Lindsey said. “They’re content winning 20-19. We’re going to get up on them and we want to try and get up and down so that made it tough cause when you get up on them they go around you. They can kick out and shoot so that was a tough game.”
Gross and the Bearcats thought they had a chance to make a run in the state tournament and did with victories over Monticello (35-29) and Pottsville (45-27) to arrive in the semifinals leading Magnolia until about 18.1 seconds.
“We led the whole game until 18.1 seconds, but that’s the state tournament,” said an emotionally spent Gross after the game. “We had some tough turnovers right there at the end and give credit to Magnolia, they did the things they need to do to be able to win. We beat Monticello and then played a really good game against Pottsville, and I thought we played a wonderful game tonight, just a little bit short.”
Panther Late Run
Brookland led by seven, 40-33, with 2:25 to go in regulation when junior Keean Strode converted both ends of a 1-and-1.
Ford put the Panthers on his back. Eleven seconds later his 3-point play began a 13-6 Magnolia run over the last 2:14 of regulation. Magnolia’s Colby Garland stole an ill-advised, long down-court pass and made a free throw pulling the Panthers within a single score at 40-37. Strode came back with two more free throws for Brookland with Magnolia’s Devonte Walker fouling out. Ford hit a jump shot again keeping the difference at three points with just over a minute remaining.
After a Brookland free throw, Ford used a behind-the-back dribble to scoot past the Bearcats and score, but couldn’t add the free throw. Brookland again threw a long outlet and this time nearly scored. Cole Doke was fouled and swished both freebies restoring the Bearcats to a four-point lead of 45-41.
The Panther’s found the arrow favorable when Ford’s 3-pointer stuck on the rim and they retained the ball with an alternate possession. Ford was fouled and made 2- of-2 charity shots cutting the margin to 45-43 with 24 seconds showing.
That’s when lightening struck for Magnolia with sophomore Adrien Walker stealing the dribble from behind. He immediately drove hard to the goal and laid the ball in drawing a foul. His free throw was good coming out of a Magnolia time-out and suddenly the lead changed hands. Magnolia was on top for the first time, 46-45, with 18.1 seconds on the clock.
Brookland ran its offense and had the ball deflected out-of-bounds underneath its own goal with two seconds left. Brookland sophomore David York was fouled on the in-bounds play with six tenths of a second yet in the fourth quarter. He made the first free throw, but missed the second which would have likely assured a Brookland victory and the game went into overtime tied at 46-46.
First Overtime
Brookland won the tip but York was stripped while driving to the basket. Ford hit a shot with a minute elapsed in the first overtime, but York answered with a 3-point play. The lead see-sawed back and forth with Ford driving with his left for a layup. Adrien Walker stole the ball and knocked down free throws. Drevonte Dismuke added another foul shot staking the Panthers out to their largest lead of the game up to that point, at 53-49.
Brookland was missing Doke, who fouled out on Adrien Walker’s steal and junior Jackson Ballard, who exited in the fourth quarter with five fouls including a charging call. The Bearcats missed 3-point attempts to end their previous two possessions, but senior pointguard Drew Thompson elevated to bank in a trifecta while absorbing contact from Dismuke that knocked him to the hardwood and resulted in a foul.
Realizing a chance to tie the game on a 4-point play opportunity the Brookland fans, coaches and bench went wild. Dismuke stared down-court in disbelief. He had challenged the shot and got whistled. Thompson’s free throw tied the game at 53-53.
“We had a couple foul out. That kind of disrupted us a little bit,” Gross said. “We had to have somebody make a play. They had No. 20 (Derrian Ford), who just it’s hard to guard that guy and we had two or three kind of assigned to him, but when he gets the ball in his left hand and he gets to going left it’s tough to stop him and he made some big-time shots.”
Magnolia had a chance to win, but Garland’s layup spun around and popped out. Brookland junior Landon Hendrix grabbed the rebound and had his legs cut out
from under him, but held on as he crashed to the gym floor and time expired forcing a second overtime.
Turning The Tables
In the second overtime Magnolia flipped the script. Magnolia gained separation with Ford exploding to the hoop to build a 59-54 advantage at the 1:15 mark. The Panthers outscored Brookland 10-3 to win 63-56 ending a dramatic fight to the finish.
“They (Brookland) were the patient ones the entire game. We pressed a lot early on and kind of rushed. We were stone cold and they hit everything they threw up,” Lindsey said. “But I felt like once we got the lead there, we pull it out and make them come get us that’s when it kind of changed. We had to play from behind all the time and that kind of played right into their hands.”
Magnolia earned an opportunity to defend its 2019 state championship against Mills University Studies in the finals originally scheduled for Friday, March 13 at Bank of the Ozarks Arena in Hot Springs at 7:45 p.m. The finals have been postponed over health concerns.
Brookland made six 3-pointers in the contest to none for Magnolia. That outside shooting and some timely drives enabled the Bearcats to lead 9-5 after one quarter and 22-15 at halftime.
Magnolia picked up its defensive intensity to start the fourth quarter. The Panthers were down 33-27 and weren’t going to allow Brookland to run the clock down. Magnolia contested passes, but Brookland wanted the game and crashed the offensive glass. Ballard ripped a rebound away from two defenders and was fouled. He sank two free throws giving the Bearcats a 37-31 lead with 5: 19 left. The foul put Magnolia over the limit and Brookland would shoot the bonus the rest of the way.